They're baaaaaack!

Posted April 9th, 2009 by MelindaFowler
in

Melinda Fowler at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab, CA--The elephant seals are returning after their post-breeding foraging trip.  The adult females must recover the mass lost after having a pup and nursing it for 27 days.  She heads to sea to build up her fat reserves and then returns to Ano Nuevo to molt--grow new hair and skin.  The females who left the beach in late January are already hitting the beach again.  It seems like only a short time since they left, but it's been about 2 months since they left.  We've recovered 3 so far, and 20 to go!! 

 

 
 
 
 
Photo by Jerome Fiechter
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